UCD up 53 places to 176 in THE World University Rankings

In the Media

“Our scholarly impact is strong and indicators covering academic papers per staff, research income per staff and citations impact have all climbed considerably. Once again we see that the research impact of our academics demonstrates that they are world-class,” said UCD President, Professor Andrew J Deeks.

What is keeping us back is the deficit in State investment in our universities in comparison with other countries. We see the results of strong commitment in other European countries such as the Netherlands, which has 12 universities in the top 200.”

In addition to this State investment, the rise in performance of European universities is due, in part, to the increase in the number of degrees, particularly at graduate level, that are being offered through English language.

THE World University Rankings uses five composite scores covering 13 indicators in teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook to measure universities. UCD has increased its scores across 10 of these indicators.

UCD continues to perform well in particular areas including research (+10.5 points), citations (+8.8 points), international outlook (+7.3) and teaching (+3.0 points). Its international outlook is the strongest performing of the metrics but, as in the QS Rankings, the main discrepancy is the student to staff ratio, which fell by -5.1 points.

According to Phil Baty, editor of THE World University Rankings, “It seems that European universities have woken up to the benefits of the international scrutiny provided by THE World University Rankings, which plays a major role influencing international students’ study choices. This strong showing in the 2015-16 World University Rankings will make Europe an even more attractive destination for international students.”

“THE World University Rankings feature universities in 70 countries, with 29 new countries included this year. Countries entering this year include Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Latvia, Oman, Qatar and the Ukraine. While the US remains the leader when it comes to elite universities, its dominance has been eroded this year. It has six of the top ten universities – down from seven last year – and 39 of the top 100 – down from 45 last year,” added Baty.

There is a mixed picture for Asia, with Japan and South Korea falling back this year and China remaining steady. Nevertheless, Japan is in 3rd place of universities represented overall, with 41 appearing in the ranking; China has 37, Korea and Taiwan both have 24, and India has 17.”